Delete by Karl Osberg

Have you ever wondered if the world we live in and our own interaction in it is being directed by some unseen power?  Not in a religious sense, but as if in a game?  Think The Matrix.  

That we are part of a virtual reality, a simulated computer game, is an actual scientific hypothesis and part of legitimate scientific research.  

Excerpt from the linked article:  

Researchers pondered the controversial notion Tuesday at the annual Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate here at the American Museum of Natural History.

Moderator Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the museum’s Hayden Planetarium, put the odds at 50-50 that our entire existence is a program on someone else’s hard drive. “I think the likelihood may be very high,” he said.  (Source)

The article covers some of the thoughts of philosophers and theoretical physicists on the topic.  

Delete begins with a strange prologue, but the first chapter moves into the story and introduces Chief Inspector Eisenberg, a member of the Hamburg police, when an attempt to end a human trafficking ring goes wrong.

Eisenberg's arrogant superintendent blames Eisenberg for  the debacle, and Eisenberg eventually looks for a transfer.  The opportunity that arises is to head a unit that focuses on pre-investigations and crime prevention using technology and the internet; the team, however, consists of brilliant, but fractious misfits.

One of the team members is a gamer, and when several strange disappearances occur in the online game, he is approached by a young woman who wants to find out what happened to her friend.  Was he deleted?  

An intriguing book with characters that hold potential for more episodes, but the pacing has some issues.  The translation by Carolyn Waight is excellent.

NetGalley/Bonnier Zaffre

Mystery/Suspense.  Oct. 25, 2015.  Print length:  358 pages.